Mississippi Power inspires the future with hands-on research experience

Four Mississippi State University students recently visited the training yard at Mississippi Power to have a hands-on, research experience with a substation transformer.

The electrical engineer students --  Jon-Michael Barnett from Tupelo, Alex Wall from Nashville, Jacob Holt from Tupelo and Tyler Strobel from Pensacola -- reached out to Transmission Maintenance and Support Manager Chris Litton to further understand the inside of a transformer for their senior project.

“There’s a large difference between opening a textbook and seeing it in person,” said Holt.

The group wanted to choose a practical project that could be used in the future. They are building a robot that will allow substation employees to inspect inside a transformer to assess any problems rather than a person going inside to inspect.

A Mississippi State professor connected the students to Litton who shared the idea for a research effort.

“It is exciting to work with these students as they seek to impact the energy industry,” said Litton. “I admire their eagerness to explore technology that could one day allow us to do our jobs more efficient and even safer.”

The students drove from Starkville to Gulfport, meeting Litton and Mississippi Power retiree Rufus Burnett for lunch. Burnett served the company for more than 35 years working inside transformers. The group was able to ask him about his firsthand experience for their project.

Then they traveled to the training yard where the students were able to familiarize themselves with the disabled transformer used for training purposes.

The students worked with Substation Electrician Wally Ladner to place a Go Pro camera inside of the transformer, and they were able to safely understand the constraints and how the robot can successfully maneuver inside.

The engineering students returned to Starkville with photos, videos, interviews and first-hand research to begin the prototype for their robot. They will graduate from Mississippi State in December.

Now in its 98th year of operations, Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and affordable energy for nearly 191,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. Mississippi Power recently was a recipient of the Community Partner Impact Award from the Center for Energy Workforce Development for its innovative and ongoing efforts to build a diverse workforce. With nearly 160 megawatts of approved solar energy capacity, Mississippi Power is the largest partner in providing renewable energy in the state of Mississippi. Visit our websites at mississippipower.com and mississippipowernews.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.